


Together

by searchingforsigns



Series: Aftermath [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, pricefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 03:41:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5319107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/searchingforsigns/pseuds/searchingforsigns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was going to be rough, but Max and Chloe would get through this, together. (Set after Polarized)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together

This was the fourth time this week Max had woke up screaming, tears running down her freckled cheeks. The fourth time Chloe had shot up, frantically, only to realize her best friend was having another nightmare. Since they'd made it out of Arcadia Bay, sleep hadn't come easy for the former time traveller. The blue haired punk pulls the crying girl to her chest, swaying them both and murmuring words to calm her. Max's red rimmed eyes slowly blink open and she cuddles herself close to the other's chest. Every time Chloe saw Max like this, she asked herself if this was really worth it. The smaller would probably never have a well rested night again. But it was too late, Max's powers were gone. There was no way to turn back time and kill Chloe. Now that was her only wish, so Max didn't have to dream of all the people she'd left behind to save her best friend's life.   
"Who was it this time?" Chloe asked quietly. If Max and her didn't have the connection they did, the photographer probably wouldn't have ever understood what she was saying, Chloe had murmured the words so softly. Max shakes her head, taking a few seconds to answer. She felt guilty, knowing Chloe regretted being alive, and Max felt selfish. This was her fault, and she knew it wasn't easy for Chloe either. Finally, she finds an answer.  
"I was dreaming of the dark room again, when Victoria was there with me. I couldn't save her. Jefferson killed her. And I wish I could do it over. I wish I could have saved everyone, including you." Max's voice was so broken, so forlorn. It hurt Chloe to hear it, but she refused to say anything about it. The last time the punk had said that she wished Max would have sacrificed her, the photographer snapped and hadn't talked to Chloe for an hour.  
"Do you want water or something?" Chloe suggested, concern for Max lacing her facial features. She watches as Max nods and then gets up to walk to the bathroom in their hotel room. Chloe fills a glass and brings back the water, and Max takes it gratefully, although she drinks small sips instead of downing it. The aquamarine haired girl lays down beside Max, stroking her lower thigh and knee absently. Thoughts of guilt and regret filled them both to the brim, and the tension between them was sharp enough to slice through bricks as simple as butter.   
Chloe's mind wanders to the wreckage after the storm. Originally, their plan was to just leave, but then they realized that would be rather hard without money to support them in the world. So they did the most horrible thing imaginable... They went back to the town and searched the remains of the shops in town for any loose change, any unbroken lock boxes.   
Of course, the duo avoided the diner and Blackwell, and any place that could hold the bodies of their friends.   
They were able to get some cash to support, at least until they could get on their feet, or get to Seattle. But they also determined there was no one left alive in the town that had been Arcadia Bay. As they were finally leaving the death filled town, emergency vehicles stopped them for questioning, all in which Chloe answered for Max, who had stared blankly at the wreckage of her childhood town.   
Their names were Chloe Price and Max Caulfield.   
Yes, they were the only known survivors.  
They were at the lighthouse when the storm hit.   
Max was a student at Blackwell, and Chloe had lived in Arcadia Bay all her life.   
They didn't require medical attention, so the police let them go, told them to stay safe. Chloe couldn't have stayed another second; she couldn't stand it. Anyone she had ever known, all the family she had, were gone. Except Max, and thank god for Max. But her mother, father, step father, and Rachel. They had all lived and breathed in Arcadia Bay. Now, the town was full of the ghosts of everyone she'd lost. Chloe's living was not worth all this death.   
There was no turning back now, however. They were in this together, and they had each other. And Chloe of all people knew time heals all wounds, so she'd stay by Max's side, and they'd get through this together.   
The punk sits up and kisses Max's cheek gently, taking her hand and squeezing it tight.   
"How close are we to Seattle, Max?" The brunette blinks a couple of times, then sets the water down on the bedside table, and in turn grabs the atlas. Their phones had both died long ago and they'd come to the decision not to buy a charger, they needed to save every dime they had. Max flips to the Washington page. Right now they were in a town about thirty miles away, so they'd reach Max's house in the next day.   
"My parents are going to be so happy to know that we're safe," Max whispers as she runs her fingers over the outline of the phone in her pocket. She hadn't been able to get any reception to call her parents before it had died and the duo had tried to get away from the damage quickly as possible, so they didn't stop at any pay phones.   
"Do you think you can sleep now?" Chloe asks, her face laced with concern for her best friend. Max nods again, curling up into Chloe's side. Despite the situation, the older can't help the small smile that formed. They needed each other. They always would.   
-  
-  
When they'd reached home, Max fixes herself up on the doorstep. She was a mess of no sleep, she hadn't brushed her hair for a few days, and she'd been crying more then not. She knew she was a complete mess, but for some reason she felt the need to make herself look presentable. In a few seconds, she rang the doorbell and waited. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and a hurricane was churning in her belly. Chloe stayed behind Max, fidgety as well. She hadn't seen the photographer's parents since they were 12, before her punk and rebellious stage. What would they think? Max's parents were pretty strict and no nonsense. Chloe's parents always had Max over so she could have some fun for once.   
She shouldn't have worried though. When Max's mother opened the door, she seemed to be in complete shock, as though she couldn't believe her daughter was alive.   
"I think the plant is dead," Max's voice cracks, and her mother starts to cry, rushing to her and hugging her close to her chest. "You're alive, you're alive." She sobs over and over, squeezing Max so hard Chloe was surprised her eyes didn't pop out. The reunion between mother and daughter caused prickles in Chloe's throat. She'd never have this moment with her mother. Ever. And to think, the last few years, Chloe had been absolutely horrible to Joyce. The tears make their way down Chloe's cheeks as she watches Max's and her mother's embrace.   
"Mom, mom Chloe's here too." The rebellious teen hears Max say, the sound distorted through her crying. Then suddenly she was added into the reunion, Max's mother crying for her safety now too.   
"You've grown up," her voice was in disbelief, her blue eyes searching over Chloe, overlooking the blue hair and the tattoos. She didn't care, she was so thankful that Max had her best friend to help her out of the situation. Chloe had forgotten Max had gotten her mother's eyes.   
"We both have," Max murmurs, so softly Chloe wonders if she even had said it at all.   
-  
-  
They'd had the same reunion with Max's dad, there were no fewer tears this time around. Mr. Caulfield was so overjoyed that his daughter was alive, he couldn't find words to speak. Then he couldn't believe Chloe was alive as well, considering the news had showed the faces of the few survivors they'd found in the wreckage. Neither his daughter or her best friend had been among those faces.  
At the mention of survivors, Max and Chloe met each other's eyes at the same moment. They knew that they wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully until they knew who survived. But they also knew they wouldn't sleep peacefully when they did learn who lived, because there was a large chance their friends wouldn't be among the few.   
Later that night, they logged onto the old family computer, and with shaky hands, Max typed in Arcadia Bay survivors. The list was longer then they'd expected, but it began with people they didn't know. Quickly, they were losing hope, that was until they'd hit the M's. The first name to come up was David's, and right after David was Kate.   
Chloe had started crying but quickly composed herself, and Max was in too much shock to register what she'd read.   
They both had injuries. Kate had a concussion and David's leg was broken. For some reason, he'd driven to the hospital at the last minute, a feeling was pulling him there. And thank goodness for it, Kate had been hit in the head, and David was able to save her.   
Since the hospital was on the outskirts of town, they tornado hadn't hit them before it dispersed. Everyone in the hospital survived.   
Max searched further through the names, guilt pooling in the bottom of her gut. Victoria and Nathan weren't on the list, but neither was Mark Jefferson. A name at the bottom caught her eye, and disbelief and joy caused her guilt to fade.   
"Found earlier this morning in the wreckage of Two Whales Diner:  
Warren Graham  
Joyce Price- Madsen."   
Chloe couldn't believe her eyes. They'd made it. Her family was still whole. Her family was alive. This time she allowed the tears to fall freely, as Max held her close. They had another chance, another chance to be a real family, and this time Chloe wouldn't fuck it up.  
-  
-  
All of the survivors had been taken to a trauma hospital far away from Arcadia Bay, near the border of Washington and Oregon. Max and Chloe had told Mrs. Caulfield they needed to go, and she agreed 100%. But first, she gave Chloe some "more presentable and lady like clothing." When she first came out of her mom's room, Max couldn't contain her snickers. And Chloe couldn't help flipping her the bird.   
She was dressed in a blue and white polka dot blouse with black slacks, the only clothing of hers she still had were her boots. To say the least, she didn't look very Chloe like.  
"I don't think you're ready for the mosh pit, Shaka brah." Max pokes her arm and laughs, as Chloe's crystal blue eyes glare daggers. "Let's go, please."   
-  
-  
When they reached the hospital, Chloe and Max joined hands. Chloe's hand trembled, so Max squeezed it tighter with all the support she could give. With a glance into each other's eyes, they pushed through the hospital doors, together.


End file.
